STORYTELLING AS A METHOD FOR ACQUIRING MATHEMATICAL UNDERSTANDING AND SKILL

Authors

  • Nomsa Mdlalose Wits University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2309-5792/181

Abstract

According to historical accounts of old Africa, mathematics got divorced from the heritage arena. It was subsequently perceived incongruent with locally produced knowledge. Zaslavsky (1999) affirms that the manner in which Africa is portrayed in reference to the history of mathematics and the history of numbers, one would conclude that Africans barely knew how to count. Notwithstanding this, storytelling as an aspect of African indigenous knowledge systems and of a genre of oral tradition constitutes various socio-cosmic codes. Narrative being a social phenomenon and rhythm being symbolic to innate ability to count assume storytelling and numbering affinity. The article aims to explore employment of storytelling for the purpose of assisting basic education learners to acquire mathematical understanding and skills.

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Published

2016-01-05

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Articles